Father's Day tribute

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My letter is a tribute to my dad for Father's Day. Recently I was driving to work and I heard Dan Fogelberg's song, "Leader of the Band." That song has always reminded me of my dad. He was never famous; he wasn't a musician. He was a miner who raised eight children on a miner's salary. He worked hard to give his best to my siblings and to me, his baby. He had a third grade education and spoke broken English but my dad was the best dad ever and although I have a college education, I will never be the person he was.

My pop was kind and patient and gentle. He passed away in 1999 and I still miss him every single day. My greatest sorrow is that he never got to meet my son who writes poems and tributes to a grandpa he never knew but loves deeply nonetheless.

My dad's name is Epifanio Garcia, he lived in Eagle County since the early 1950s. In my adult life, I have found not everyone has or had a loving dad. I am a better person because of my dad and I am truly blessed to have been his daughter. I relate to the words of that Fogelberg song: "My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man. I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band."